India captain Rohit Sharma comes across as a calm and composed person, both on and off the field. Few, which includes the legendary Ricky Ponting, have even used the word "laidback" to describe his style of play. Another popular notion about Rohit is that he tends to forget things, which was popularised by former India captain Virat Kohli. However, Indian umpire Anil Chaudhury debunked the 'lazy, casual' theory on Rohit on Sunday.
Speaking on a YouTube podcast show 'Unplugged', Chaudhury, who has officiated well over 50 international matches, warned anchor Shubhankar Mishra against forming a wrong image about Rohit based on theories that have been going on in public circle, especially the social media. He explained that while the 37-year-old may come across as a “casual” person, he is a “smart cricketer” with high “cricketing IQ,” who makes batting look easy.
“Rohit aapko lagta casual hai par bahot smart player hai. Iss chakkar mein na padna aap. He is very smart. Cricketing IQ bahut achha hai uska, means game ki samajh (Rohit may seem casual, but he's a very smart player, don't get fooled thinking otherwise; his game sense is very good),” he said.
“Uski Batting se idea nahi aata aapko. Jab wo batting karta hai to lagta hai 120 (kmph) pe bowling ho rahi hai. Jab dusra batting karta hai to lagta hai 160 pe bowling ho rahi hai....Wo bahut saari appealon mein aa jata hai aur kehta hai 'abey rehne de'. Woh lagta casual hai par casual bilkul nahi hai woh (you can't guess his sharp mind from his batting. When he's batting, it seems someon is bowling at 120 kmph, but when someone else is batting, the speed seems like 160 kmph. He gets involved in a lot of appeals and then says 'let it be.' He may seem casual, but he's not casual at all).”
{{/usCountry}}“Uski Batting se idea nahi aata aapko. Jab wo batting karta hai to lagta hai 120 (kmph) pe bowling ho rahi hai. Jab dusra batting karta hai to lagta hai 160 pe bowling ho rahi hai....Wo bahut saari appealon mein aa jata hai aur kehta hai 'abey rehne de'. Woh lagta casual hai par casual bilkul nahi hai woh (you can't guess his sharp mind from his batting. When he's batting, it seems someon is bowling at 120 kmph, but when someone else is batting, the speed seems like 160 kmph. He gets involved in a lot of appeals and then says 'let it be.' He may seem casual, but he's not casual at all).”
{{/usCountry}}Chaudhury even reckoned that umpiring against a player like Rohit, who is less fidgety at the crease, is less confusing.
“Rohit jaise player ke liye umpiring karna bada easy hai. Ya to out hota hai ya to not out hota hai. Seedha seedha kaam hai uska. Guchur guchur khelta hi nahi hai wo. Woh out hai ya not out hai. Aise player ko umpiring karna bahot easy hai. Usko dekhna aap, ya to woh saaf out hoga ya saaf not out hoga (umpiring for a player like Rohit is very easy; he's either out or not out, it's straightforward with him. He doesn't play confusingly),” he added.
Anil Chaudhury recalls Rohit Sharma's iconic 264
To further exemplify his point, Chaudhury recalled Rohit's iconic knock of 264 runs, the highest individual score in an ODI game in history, against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens in 2013, where the former was the TV umpire. He said that the India opener was even smashing the yorkers for sixes.
“Mai ek match pe TV umpire tha. He scored 200 plus. Jo balls dusro ke liye yorker thi, uspe wo chhakke maar raha tha. I think Kolkata mei match tha. Wo different class hai. Woh lagta lazy hai, par bahut idea hai usko. Swing ka idea hai usko [I was a TV umpire in one match. He scored 200-plus. The balls that were yorkers for others, he was hittingthose for sixes. I think the match was in Kolkata. He's in a different class. He may seem lazy, but he has a lot of ideas. He understands swing),” he said.